I ran into Julie Taymor, the director of “The Lion King,” at last week’s Fred Astaire Awards.

She’s hard at work on “Spider-Man: Turn Out the Dark,” which appears regularly in this column due to the fact that its budget has exceeded the gross domestic product of Guam.

It’s hit $40 million, and it isn’t even cast yet.

“Are you going to kill us before we open?” Taymor wanted to know. “Give us a chance, please.”

Of course I will, Julie. I’m the very definition of fair-minded, and I always root for a new show. Besides, you’re a genius and you’ve created some of the most goosebump-inducing moments I’ve ever come across in the live theater.

Only a fool would bet against you.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to torture your producers on the way to opening night.

So let’s get out the bastinado!

The Hilton, a dreadful barn of a theater that reduces even a great lug of an actor like Mark Kudisch to the size of Marylouise Burke, is being ripped up and reconfigured for “Spider-Man.”

But this week, you could see people milling around the place, twiddling their thumbs. Work had ground to a halt.

Sources say the reason is that a bank loan to redo the theater didn’t come through, triggering a rumor that the show itself could be in jeopardy.

“Not true!” insists a “Spider-Man” spokesman. There was indeed a work stoppage, but it was due to a problem with permits and has since been sorted out, he says.

I’ve also heard that some heavy-hitting investors have been approached about putting up an additional $10 million in priority loans should the show go over budget.

(Should? When is the better word; a genius like Taymor can’t be penned in by a budget, for heaven’s sake.)

Priority loans aren’t unusual in the theater. Many shows go over budget, and a producer can raise money quickly by securing a priority loan, which simply means that, if you’re the last-minute lender, you get your money out before everybody else.

The spokesman for the show says: “There is nothing preferential out there. Every investor is on an equal footing.”

Still, the producers of “Spider-Man” are looking for money, according to several people who’ve been approached.

But here’s the question: Is the money going into the show itself or into the redesign of the theater?

“What you should be asking,” one person says, “is: Are the budgets for the show and the theater separate — or are they being co-mingled? If they are, this could wind up costing so much that it simply cannot pay back.”

Another producer who’s chuckling over the finances of “Spider-Man” says: “By the time they’re done building the show and the theater, they could easily be spending $50 million. They’ll have to run at capacity for five years just to break even. That is impossible.”

The “Spider-Man” spokesman says: “There is separate financing for the theater modification.”

And how will that investment be paid back?

“That is a private business arrangement between the producers and the theater owner.”

And one last smack of the bastinado:

Negotiations with Alan Cumming to play the role of Green Goblin have gone off the rails, with the producers balking at his quote.

I say hold out for all you can, Alan, and let’s see if we can pump this sucker up to $60 million!

JEFF Daniels, who’s delight fully obnoxious in “God of Carnage,” is performing his own songs June 22 at City Winery, 155 Varick St.